The Weekend
by adelaidybug
Summary: Claudia's upset but won't admit anything's wrong.


**So I was stress-writing and this happened. Probably not my best work ever, but I thought it was worth sharing.**

**I own nothing from Warhouse 13. _Nothing._**

**_TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions suicide. Please don't read if this will trigger you._**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Hold it together Claudia. _The girl repeated the phrase over and over to herself in her mind as she sat down at the breakfast table. Pete was crunching noisily with his mouth open, an action that, for whatever reason, drove Claudia up the wall. Abigail was unconsciously sitting in the spot where she always sat, furthering her annoyance. Myka walked in, her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Hey Claudia, I know we were going to go visit the Museum of Technology this weekend, but I'm really tired from this week. Would it be okay if we rescheduled?"

"Yeah, fine. No problem." Claudia said, heart sinking.

"Hey Claude, how'd you sleep?" Jinks asked as he sat down.

"Fine. Why do you ask?" She said quickly.

"The thunderstorm last night kept me up."

"Well, I slept fine." She lied, getting irrationally irritated.

"Okay..." Steve said, seeing her lie.

Abigail reached for the cereal and in the process accidentally tipped over her glass of milk, sending the contents directly into Claudia's lap.

" Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, reaching for napkins to clean up the mess.

"Jeez, Abigail. Will you watch it?!" Claudia snapped, getting up.

"Claudia, it was an accident." Myka said.

"Well what if that accident had been in the Warehouse? She's gotta be more careful. And Pete, for the love of all that is holy, will you shut your frakking mouth while you chew?" She whipped around and stormed out of the room.

"I'll go talk to her." Steve said, going up to her room. He knocked gently on the door."

"Not now."

"Claude, it's me."

"I said not now!" She sounded so broken that Steve opened the door anyway. Claudia was sitting on the floor, back against her bed and head in her hands.

"Hey. " he said, sitting next to her.

" I'll apologize to Pete and Abigail later."

"I'm not here about that."

"Then why are you here?"

"To see what's wrong."

"Nothing, I'm fine." She said, but her voice cracked at the end of the sentence, and she hung her head lower.

"Claude, we're best friends. You can trust me."

Claudia took a shaky breath in. "This weekend... Is the anniversary of my parents' death."

"Oh. "

"And I'm fine really. I mean it was a long time ago and I should be over it by now... "

"Claude, it's okay. I know it's not quite the same, but every year around the time Olivia died I'm a complete wreck."

"Yeah?

He nodded.

"A few years ago I was in the institution during this time."

"How'd that go?"

"I ended up in restraints and on like six different medications."

"Really?"

"Yep. Antipsychotics, sedatives, antidepressants... Not really a highlight of my life."

"Do you... Want to talk about it?"

" What, the institution or my parents?"

"Both. Either."

"My parents.." She swallowed. "Got in a car accident when I was seven. My mom died on the scene. My dad slipped into a coma at the hospital and died the next day." A few tears slipped down her cheeks. Steve put his arms around her. She put her head on his shoulder, but was still curled in a ball , arms around her legs. They were quiet for a long time.

"The institution," Claudia started, "was the most horrific place I've been in my entire life."

"Why's that?" Steve asked, sensing the girl needed to get more off her chest.

"They told me I was delusional and crazy. They'd yell at me and shake me and restrain me or put me in a straitjacket. And then there was electroshock therapy. " she shuddered. "I kind of lost it for a while there. Started to lose hope... Started to believe I really was crazy." Steve hugged her tighter.

"My roommate was collecting supplies... To, you know... Kill herself. And..." She took a shaky breath, "I asked if I could join her."

"What happened?"

"I- I found her in the bathroom one morning. She slit her wrists."

"I'm so sorry, Claudia." Steve couldn't imagine how traumatic it was for the girl to find someone who had committed suicide, especially considering her already fragile state.

"Yeah." She sniffled. "Me too. But it sort of set me straight. I realized I needed to get the hell out of there before I really did lose it. So I faked my way through therapy and finally got out. After that I started gathering resources to free Joshua and find Artie."

"I really don't know what to say. Except that I'm sorry you had to go through all that. And I'm glad you're here. "

"Thanks for being here for me, Jinksy." Claudia said, a few tears sliding down her cheeks.

"There's no place I'd rather be, Claude. And I'll _always _be here for you."

"Thanks." She stood up. "I think I'll go down and apologize to Pete and Abigail."

"Hey Claude, if you still want to go to the museum of technology, I'd go with you. "

"Actually, I think there's somewhere I'd rather go."

* * *

_Here lie Eliana and Edward Donovan, devoted spouses, loving parents, and dear friends to all who knew them. May they rest in peace._

Steve read the headstone as Claudia knelt down and laid a bouquet of flowers by her parents' grave. She sniffled a bit.

"Hey guys. How's it going?" Claudia said quietly. " I miss you. But I'm doing pretty awesome stuff. I think you guys would be really proud of me."

She stood up and walked over to Steve and pulled him into an embrace, silent tears soaking into the shoulder of his jacket.

"I think they'd be really proud of you too, Claude."


End file.
